SPACEPHOTOS

(06/01/2000) -- A mobile launcher platform atop a crawler-transporter, heads to the open door of the Vehicle Assembly Building high bay 2. As part of the Safe Haven project, a once-buried portion of the crawlerway was restored to enable rollout of a Shuttle from this third stacking area. The primary goal of the Safe Haven construction project was to strengthen readiness for hurricane season by expanding the VAB’s storage capacity. The new area, in high bay 2, will allow NASA to preassemble stacks and still have room in the VAB to pull a Shuttle back from the pad if severe weather threatens. Potential rollouts of the Space Shuttle to the launch pad from high bay 2 will involve making a turn around the north side of the VAB in contrast to the straight rollouts from high bays 1 and 3, on the east side of the VAB facing the launch pads